Curse Born of Cruxis
by Aska Rain
Summary: Kratos finds himself involved in yet another quest for regeneration. But this time events from his past come back to light, revealing something of a curse that the heads of Cruxis felt necessary to place on him and someone he loved. WARNING: spoilers
1. Ch 1: Horizons

**A/N: **Ok, so I have been writing for quite some time now, a little fan-fiction but mostly my own original work. To make a long story short, you could say that this is my first fan-fiction. At lest it's the first fan-fiction that I have ever posted, so please be nice (by that I mean please don't flame). Well that said and done, please read and review. Any input would be nice and I am open to constructive criticism (just not flames because those don't help an author develop meaning it isn't constructive). Hope those of you who read enjoy. ^^

Ch1. Horizons

It was already late morning, and a handful of the scavenging merchants still had not finished packing up camp. Part of the problem was that a fair few of the merchants had woken up early but had chosen to lounge around for a few hours instead of packing, while other merchants were new to the idea of setting up a highly temporary camp that would be broken down within two days, three at most, so the group could move on to another location to forge for items and materials. It was the second group of merchants that had insisted in setting up a far to lavish camp, pulling out complex tents and unpacking near bout every possession and item that they had brought with them.

A tall thin female sighed in frustration in the lack of forward progress as she slumped down at the base of a tall thick tree. "Pampered novices", she muttered to herself running her fingers through her relatively short silky blond hair causing it to spike just a little more to the back.

This particular caravan that she had signed up to work for as an armed escort was proving to be a little more annoying than she had bargained for. Enough of the members were new to the idea of scavenging that it was near maddening really, and it was those members of the group that were now costing the caravan useful traveling time…again.

With another irritated sigh, the woman pulled her dagger part way from its dark colored sheath to check, yet again, if it needed any sort of attention. Like every other time she had slipped the dagger from its sheath it glittered back up at her showing no signs of needing attention which meant she still had no task to occupy her idle time. In all honesty she could pass time by helping one of the lazy merchants that had put off packing up all morning, or by helping one of the merchants that had unpacked far too many positions when they first set up camp, but she had already vowed that they could struggle on her own. Besides, she was hired as a blade, not a maid.

So she sat at the base of her tree watching merchants rush about not that they realized, and were being yelled at by more experienced merchants, that they had almost lost a third of the travel time the could have. A quick hard breeze reminded her why she had bothered to pull on the grey cloak that now rested thrown back behind her leaving her arms exposed.

With the quick reminder she stood pulling the cloak over her shoulders to better protect her bare arms. The weather itself in this area was also just plain annoying in its own right. Starting from late morning up until just before the sun went down the air was relatively warm thanks to the powerful sun, but whenever the mountain breeze blew it came as a cold torrent of air that chilled exposed skin. But other than the poor company, and lousy traveling companions, and the odd weather, she had to find the surrounding area rather beautiful.

The young mercenary was taking in the view of the many beautifully forested slopes of the lower mountains along with the distant skyline in which mountain tips reached forcefully up into the sky creating a breath taking horizon when a sudden loud thud ran out over all the other sounds of the packing camp.

A little ways off two mercenaries had effectively dropped a large chest packed full of various stones and metals. Being merchants the two had swooped up the spilled contents and masterfully repacked into the wooden chest and were preparing for a second attempt at loading it.

To her it was already clear the chest was to heavy for the two merchants and this would mean, as any good mind would conclude, they were most likely going to drop the chest again. The dropped chest would only result in more time wasted, and at the thought of more time wasted, because two merchants were either too stubborn or too stupid to wait until another person could help them lift the chest, the women lost her resolve to stay out of doing the work the merchants had brought upon themselves.

Just as the chest began to slip from the grip of the weaker of the two merchants the woman managed to grab hold of the iron handle, steadying the swaying and shaking of the chest. With a nudge of her shoulder, she pushed the weaker merchants out of the way and hoisted her end of the chest onto the cart, reaching quickly to the other handle before the second merchant could drop it. With another small grunt, she shoved the chest the rest of the way onto the cart.

"Thanks Luc", the younger, yet surprisingly stronger, of the two merchants chimed in gratitude to the intervention.

Luc gave the boy a curt nod before striding off to untangle the hopelessly tangled ropes of a clearly novice scavenger. After giving the novice a quick shove with her shoulder she quickly set to work, her deft hangs untangling the mess in front of her. As she worked she reminded herself, 'If I just swallow my pride and do a little extra work we can finally get out of the campsite and move on to the next.'

A bright flash from skyline just off to the north-west caused Luc to look up from the snaking ropes that had entwined themselves just to help the beings of this world to drive her mad. She had seen flashes of light before but this one was odd. For starters no spell would have been so powerful as to be seen from over the mountains. Second, it was broad daylight so it most certainly was not a strangely bright shooting star or some other earth bound wonder from space. Third of all, she had never seen a flash of light followed by a heavenly glow like she was seeing now.

The light faded, but still Luc stared at the horizon. 'What the hell was that?', Luc wondered to herself.

Luc shrugged it off as soon as the light completely faded from over the mountains and continued on her pathetic task of fixing a novices mess and problem. Once finished she went about her way, pushing her way in to various other miniscule tasks if she felt it would speed up the caravan and get them moving.

Eventually her efforts were rewarded, or fate had decided she had toiled enough, and the caravan was on their way moving slowly but carefully over the uneven ground making their way back towards the eastern edge of the mountains. As far as Luc knew, the leaders of the caravan of merchants had decided that they would make only two or three more long term camps which meant only a few more scavenging spots. Once those stops were done and out of they way, they would be exiting the lower mountain range and back onto the stretch of plains where Izoold lay nestled onto the coast. It would be at this point that the caravan would only stop to rest once it had gotten dark, setting up night long camps that would hopefully break down quickly in the mornings because all the merchants would be of the same mindset. They were moving back towards an actual civilization and the faster they moved, the faster they got there.

Luc smirked at the thought of almost being done with this sorry excuse for a job. As a mercenary she did not mind playing the part of an armed escort, but she did mind, however, playing escort to a bunch of people who did not really know what they were doing. The lack of experience was draining on all those who had experience, and for a mercenary it meant a painfully slow pace of travel. Caravans were slow to begin with. Caravans with novices…you might as well have been walking backwards…or jumping of a cliff. 'Jumping off a cliff would definitely be just as good as staying with this burdened group…or', Luc smirked, 'Pushing the novices off the next cliff would definitely make this easier but that is hardly smiled upon. Besides…I think I'm being a little too harsh on them. Everyone has to start somewhere and these guys chose to start here and now. I…just happen to be the poor fool of a mercenary that was dumb enough to come with them.'

A bitter sigh escaped her lips because she knew her revelation to be true, if you could even call it a revelation. In full honesty, Luc had already come to the same conclusion multiple times since the caravan first set out into the mountains and she had first realized that there was more than a single novice present. Regardless, the thought was true. It was no one's fault but her' for being here and it was not a novices fault for not knowing the ropes.

Hell, Luc herself had been a novice at some point but it felt so long ago now. Any person that has become seasoned enough had a hard time remembering exactly what it was like to have been at a point where they were completely and utterly clueless, and Luc was no different. So for the hundredth time she reminded herself that they were just learning, that she should stop taking jobs where too many novices were involved, and that she should be grateful that more than half of the caravan was experienced.

A loud shutter from a cart just behind her pulled at her attention but she opted to ignore the loud rolling mass of junk clattering about behind her. The cart jostled about roughly once more and, Luc braced herself, a loud crash sounded out from behind her.

Luc gave a casual glance over her shoulder. A few storage bins had come lose on the cart and toppled over off the sides, slamming into the ground spilling their contents all over. 'On second thought, this particular group seems to be more unlucky, or just dumber, than any other group I have had the pleasure of working for. Just, come on. I don't expect them all to know how a scavenging expedition works, but I do expect that they at least know how to pack their carts correctly and stuff. I mean, surely they are least a little bit experienced in traveling between towns. Which would mean they should know how to secure their cargo and junk', Luc thought bitterly to herself. This was not the first time a person had not properly secured the contents of their cart and it was beginning to piss her off.

Hours had passed since the caravan had finally moved out from their camp, and thanks to the spill, along with a few other minor set backs, the caravan had failed to make any significant progress. The reality of her situation nagged at her mind driving Luc to vow to not work with these kinds of caravans again for at least six months.

Another flash of light emitted from the horizon. This time it was not just a glow arched like a globe from over the mountains reaching up into the skyline, and this time it was not from the north-west. It was a long streak of light reaching up into the very heavens to the north-east of the group.

As the light petered out the group was able to start making out the form of a large white tower. The light faded the rest of the way leaving the tower reaching high into the sky, so high, in fact, that one could not see the top. It was if the tower literally reached up beyond the earth into the heavens, and such a thing just was not natural.

The many members of the caravan began to cheer, slapping each other on the back whooping and hollering as if they had just been told that every last Desian had simply dropped dead. The cries of "the tower of Salvation", "the world regeneration has begun", "the Chosen will save us", and "it's only a matter of time now" along with other variations of the phrases were coming from all up and down the caravan.

Luc, however, was not rejoicing. Her crystalline blue eyes remained fixed on the tower for a few more moments before she finally tore them away to look up and down the rejoicing caravan. It was all true, all the things the merchants and few other body guards were crying out.

The tower now standing erect on the horizon could be none other than the Tower of Salvation, and the appearance of the tower could only mean that the Chosen was beginning her journey of world regeneration. So, the tower's appearance was probably the best thing that a person living in this haunted world could ever hope to see, but…

Luc simply shook her head, letting her gaze fall to the ground. She just couldn't bring herself to rejoice like the others. She felt as if she should be rejoicing, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Something deep inside her prevented her from celebrating as it uncovered a feeling that something just wasn't right. Something about the tower just seemed false, or maybe just too good to be true.

Some random merchant slapped Luc on the back assuring her "It's only a matter of time before the Chosen regenerates the world now, saving us from the Desians." The merchant gave her shoulder a squeeze, so she gave him a meek smile hoping it was enough to pass her off as being exited internally.

Unable to join in the spirit of things, Luc started to wonder to the front of the caravan. When stopped by one of the head merchants up at the front Luc explained that she was going to scout ahead. The merchant leader gave her a nod of approval and Luc started out ahead of the caravan.

In truth, she just wanted to get away from the overly giddy merchants. Merchants had a thing for over reacting, and their response to the tower was beginning to get at her. To avoid snapping, Luc had decided it would be best if she separate herself from them. The best way to do that was to, well, scout ahead.

And so Luc walked ahead 'scouting'. She walked quietly consumed by her thoughts. Surprisingly, Luc wasn't even sure what half her thoughts were. It was like something was nagging at the back of her min, pushing her mind to racing speeds, producing mass responses, but she was unable to decipher any of it.

A chilling wind blew threw the mountains, and Luc pulled her grey cloak tightly about herself to guard against the oncoming guests. On she walked, attempting to leave the sounds of the over active merchants far behind her.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading and my biggest hope is that you don't want the time you spent reading this back XD. But seriously, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Please review and let me know what you think. Ch 2 will be up pretty quick seeing as I am finishing it up now.


	2. Ch 2: Heat Wave

**A/N:**For those of you who read Chapter one and decided to come back, and those of you who are bothering to continue reading this story, I give you... Chapter 2. But first a few words from me. Sorry, it took a little longer than expected to get this chapter posted. (My Beta had an essay he had to finish and well...that and other things kept him busy over the weekend.)

In other news, I have some good news. The character you all know and love will finally be showing up in this chapter. And for those who are curious, the plot will begin to take pff. Pat attention and you might catch some stuff ^^. On with the chapter!!

(oh and seeing as I forgot this last time. I, sadly, do not own TOS. T_T there I said it. Consider that my disclaimer.)

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Ch. 2. Heat Wave

The sun beat mercilessly down on the baked earth; the sand absorbing its harsh rays and radiating the heat back up on any poor unfortunate soul that happened to be walking through the Triet Desert.

Luc licked her dry lips, her mouth feeling just about as dry as the surrounding sand. Another hot guest of desert wind kicked up a storm cloud of dust and sent it whirling about her, wedging sand into her eyes, hair, nose, mouth, ears, and any other crevice presented on her body or clothes.

With a curse Luc spat the sand from her mouth, but with little success since her mouth was almost to dry fro her to even spit. Any moisture that had been had already been greedily soaked up by the course sand that had managed to land in her mouth.

Unable to get the gritty particles from her mouth, Luc moved on to clearing her eyes of the painfully annoying particles. She reached up with an index finger a thumb and began to rub the corners of her eyes next to her nose since it was there that she felt most of the sand had decided to settle. After a few painful seconds, Luc was satisfied that she had gotten enough of the sand out that she should be able to see…at least as well as one could see in a place the glared about as bright as the sun itself.

At this rate, Luc felt she would be just as well off looking directly at the sun and walking. It was near impossible to see while walking looking ahead, and impossible see when walking while staring at the sun. So, in the long run watching where you were going and blinding yourself now had the same effect.

This feeling put aside, Luc raised an arm back up to shield her face from the hot rays and started once more to trudge through the sifting sands of this infernal wasteland of nothing but heat. The sand gave way easily beneath her platted leather boots, making walking a far more difficult task than it needed to be. In fact, walking had, ever since she entered the desert, begun to take more energy than she had ever remembered it taking before.

As she trudged along the ridge of the dune, the sand shifted enough that she lost her footing and toppled forward, her hands getting shoved wrist deep into the painfully hot sand. Thankfully the light gray wrappings that she had taken to wrapping around her hands protected the main bulk of her hands from the hot sand, but her poor fingers were not so lucky.

Luc pulled her hands lose and looked them over, shaking them so that any of the sand that had slipped inside the wrappings would fall out. Her fingers were a brighter pink than she remembered. She sighed as reached up ruffling her own hair, sending a small shower of sand into the hot breeze of the desert.

Pulling herself upright, Luc managed to pull her canteen free of her dark leather belt and uncorked it, taking a few precious gulps before forcing herself to recap it. As thirsty as she was, water was a commodity in the desert that was not easily restocked, and seeing as she was the only person and could only carry so much at a time, she had to be extremely careful to ration what water she had or she would run out far sooner than she needed to.

"Who the hell decided it was a good idea to put a god damn town in the middle of a place like this? Whoever it was, I'm gunna kill them. Then again, no one said I had to come out here", Luc chuckled to herself placing a hand over her face, "and that's one more against me. Once again it's my own damn fault for being in a place or situation that I am now beginning to hate…And…I am going freaking crazy. I'm talking to myself…a lot. Too much, so I'm just gunna stop now."

Canteen refastened on her belt, Luc struggled up from the unstable surface of the desert and took a good look around. It wasn't like there was anything for her to use as any landmark or anything, but she might as well try to get her bearing. She glanced back over her shoulder where her rapidly fading footsteps trailed off into the distance and gave a sigh.

She had no choice but to keep on wondering forward. Besides, as long as she hadn't wandered too far off course, she would be able to spot Triet as she got closer and readjust her path. Hopefully she would have enough water to reach that point and hopefully the heat didn't drive her insane before she reached the thriving desert town.

Luc's shoulders were beginning to sting and with a single touch from her fingertips she concluded that they were both starting to burn. Luc's light blue top ended just above her bellybutton and was sleeveless, leaving her arms, shoulders, and stomach exposed. Normally this wasn't a problem. Luc would only take on a light tan, remaining fairly pale because of her light complexion, but she wouldn't burn either. It was nice for the most part. She never had to worry about turning as dark as the belt she wore or turning as red as the tomato that obviously could not grow in this god forsaken place.

Although her shirt had no sleeves, her entire arm was not left completely exposed. Luc had taken to wearing long leather guards on bother her lower arms that each had a long plate running the length of the top of the guard. Though they were normally meant to help her defend herself in a fight, they were now acting as a guard against the sun and she was grateful knowing that her entire arm wouldn't be able to burn painfully.

Thankfully, Luc didn't have to worry about her legs in the least. Baggy, dark blue pants shielded her legs from the sun, as well as her leather boots that began just below her knees that were platted lightly to add a defense factor while in fights. In the past she had learned that the light level of plaiting also doubled as a way to increase the effectiveness of any kicks she decided to through at opponent.

Luc kept wandering forward until the sun went down at which point she had no choice but to stop, pull out her grey cloak, and hope that chill of the night air would bring some relief. She wished she could continue to travel into the night, or maybe just travel at night, but that was unwise for her. It was cooler at night, true, but there would be almost no way for her to spot Triet if she came across it at night.

At least there was a large chance she would miss Triet if she were to come across it at night. If she didn't pass close enough to the town there would be almost no way she would notice it in the dark. The town, she heard, left lit torches at the gates to town, but it was possible for her to approach at then pass the town at an angle which the torched would not be visible. So to play it safe, she did not travel at night so she could not possible miss the oasis.

The night had proven to be cold, and Luc's gray cloak and aged bedding proved to be of little help against the chill. She had wrapped her cloak around her clinging to it in hopes of conserving body heat, but it had felt like every last bit kept slipping away into the night air. Luc was positive that only her shivering and burnt skin kept her body heat at a level that existed.

It most certainly hadn't been the first night she had spent in the desert, and not the first night she had spent there on this particular journey, but it had to be the coldest. Luc now wanted to find Triet more than ever.

The sun had risen and the heat had followed it with a devoted urgency. Luc shook her canteen after taking a quick swig. "With the amount left in this bottle and what I have left stored in my pack I'd say…I have about enough to make it through tomorrow…maybe…honestly though…through tomorrow if I stretch it. But god, I'm cutting this closer than I would have liked to", Luc whispered to herself climbing to her feet.

As much as she didn't like it, she knew she wouldn't solve anything but sitting around fretting or complaining. This was a situation that required actions, not words or thoughts. In fact, sitting around thinking or talking could cost her dearly. As refreshed as she could be, Luc pushed on as soon as she had carefully repacked her bedding after shaking it out and stuffed her cloak in over top of it.

"God damn it!" Luc cried out kicking into the sand. She glared furiously around her. It all looked the same and it was getting to her. She had managed to travel out her alone before, but for some reason she just didn't recall it to be so frustrating.

Ok, so last time her compass didn't decide to crack and fill with sand sometime during the night after entering the desert, and her map had been more helpful because its better half, the compass, had worked. This time her compass was useless because of said crack and filling of sand, that didn't happen before, and her map was just as useless as the compass because what good was a map if you didn't know if you were even facing the right direction during the day. What was even better was that trying to get back to Ossa Trail had been out of the question since she didn't even know which way Ossa Trail was from her anymore.

Each night, Luc was able to get her directions down because of the stars, but really, if she had veered off course during the day, simply just facing the direction Triet was in when she entered the desert didn't mean she would find Triet. For all she knew walking "towards Triet" now was really sending her right by it, and she had no way of knowing for sure.

This whole situation pissed her off, and there was almost nothing she could do to fix it. She had come prepared but it was as if fate was telling her it didn't want her making it to Triet just yet. That or fate was telling her she was meant to die out here in the desert, but that was one way Luc was determined she would not leave this world by.

The sounds of sifting sand, as if by weight and not wind, caught hold of Luc's attention driving off her anger. Calmly, Luc began to scan her surroundings. Was it a monster? Bandits' maybe? Or was it just her mind playing tricks on her?

The questions were soon answered as she heard the painful shriek of some "mage" ending a spell. Out of instinct, Luc sprang out of the way, the heat of three or four small fire balls whizzing by her.

Great just what she needed, a fight…with bandits. Luc let out a disgruntled sigh knowing running from them was out of the question, and fighting them would be a draining experience. Seeing as she had no real choice, Luc drew out her dagger and sword prepared to fight every last one of the fools who attacked her.

# # # # # # #

"Hey, do you guys hear that?", Genis asked, his ear twitching as he picked up what he thought sounded like clashing metal.

Without even stopping to listen Lloyd instantly responded, "Hear what, Genis?" Genis simply shushed his friend listening intently to make sure he wasn't just hearing things. Kratos, Rain, and Collette had all stopped to see if they could hear what Genis had just picked up.

"I can hear something too, Genis", Raine, Genis's older sister and guardian, affirmed. Collette listened for a few more seconds before shimming in, "It sounds like swords or something. You don't think someone's in a fight somewhere near here, do you?"

Kratos nodded in response to the blonde Chosen's question. "By the sounds of it I'd say they aren't to far from us, whoever they are."

With Kratos's confirmation of there most likely being a fight near by Lloyd sprang forward hands ready to draw his two swords at a moments notice. "Come one, we have to help them", Lloyd cried bounding off in the direction of the sounds.

"Lloyd, slow down. We have to make sure we don't run right into the center of it. Even if it is someone who needs help, we won't be of any help to them if we run in there blind", Kratos called after the over-excited boy.

With Lloyd leaving the rest of the group little choice, they followed after their travel companion in red, catching up to him as he came to a sliding halt at the top of the next dune. As each person came even with Lloyd, the battle unrolled before there eyes.

Five or six bandits had all ganged up on a single woman who was armed with a dagger, which she held length wise, in her left hand and a saber in her right. She wore leather arm guards and boots that where lightly platted showing that she was some sort of a fighter, or a prepared traveler. She had light, almost white, short blond hair that was spiked up and to the back, the back cut longer than the rest but still light and feathery like the rest of her hair. White bangs angled over her right eye, and where cut short all along the left side of her face so that they really only could obscure her right eye.

The woman fought with a fast, precise battle style and was quick on her feet. She had obviously opted to focus on the one mage and one archer first, for they lay dead on the ground, the sand beneath them turning a crimson red.

Just as the group had come to watch the fight from there perch on the top of the dune, she ran her saber through another opponent, slashing out with her knife at their throat as soon as she was within reach. Pulling her blade from his torso, the bandit fell like a rag doll to the ground, red droplets scattering across the sand, a deep red spot beginning to form under his back as he let out a raspy watery hiss.

But there was still three more, and these three looked pissed as the five hells. On top of that, the woman was now clearly at more of a disadvantage. The bandits had now had time to watch her and gauge her. They had also had time to pull themselves together to create one unified front. There would be no more "one attacker at a time" nonsense, and they had no more long range people they would be trying to protect.

"Come on we have to help her", Lloyd called out waving his friends forward as he dashed from his spot pulling his dual swards as he went.

Kratos reached out after Lloyd, but this was just one of those few times Lloyd had the speed to beat Kratos's reflexes. "Lloyd wait", Kratos ordered, "We can't just go rushing in like that!"

Kratos's command came too late and Lloyd was unable to hear it because he was already in fight mode. Sabers drawn and ready Lloyd charged down the side of the dune, turning his run into a slide as neared the bottom. But in the time Lloyd took to get down the face of the dune, the woman had made quick work of two bandits that attacked her standing in a pattern that was far too convenient for her to pass up.

She had ducked in under one of their blows, slicing at the neck turning her sword to make an angled gash up and across the bandit's torso releasing his life's energy from his body. She had then redirected her dagger to catch the heavy blade of the second bandit that had been within feet of the first, choosing to run this one through with her sword before he had time to figure out what had stopped him cold in his attack. As quickly as he had been stopped he fell to his knees crumpling into a dying mass of flesh n the desert floor.

Now she was able to turn her attention to the last of the bandits. She threw up her sword halting the attack being swung at her torso, lashing out with a quick swipe of her dagger in an attempt to slash the bandit's hand.

Lloyd lid in just off behind the woman and to her left his swords help in a parallel paten. As soon as the ground was more level, Lloyd dashed forward pulling his right blade back ready to land a mighty uppercut on the bandit about to attack the women.

Without warning the bandit crumpled, falling over to his side with and agonizing cry, the sand seeped with blood within seconds of him landing on it. Before Lloyd could halt his charge the woman turned on her heel already launching a counter attack against an enemy she thought was moving in.

There was no way for Lloyd to possibly switch to counter the woman since he wasn't even in the mind set that she would even attack him. To make matters worse, Lloyd's forward momentum couldn't be stopped making it impossible for him to change directions. The sand just didn't allow enough traction for the young swordsmen to apply his reflexes and fighting style. There was no time for Lloyd to counter or to dodge. He was going to get struck hard, with deadly accuracy and precision.

A metallic echo resonated off of the woman's saber as Kratos gracefully redirected her strong blow aimed at Lloyd. Out of adrenaline and uncertainty, the woman lashed out with her deadly dagger. Expecting the strikes to continue, Kratos shoved Lloyd backwards as he raced to get out of reach, the dagger streaking by his sword arm.

A few more quick consecutive strikes followed which Kratos deemed best to just simply get out of the way, blocking with his shield or throwing up his blade only as a last resort to avoid being wounded. The woman came to a hasty halt, her shoulders and chest rising and falling rapidly as she fought to steady her breath. Though her assaults ended, the woman did not drop her guard. She remained ever on the defensive prepared to counter at any second with her knees bent, sword pointed up to about shoulder level, and dagger held low and ready to her side.

"Just hold on a second", Kratos sighed relaxing his posture to make his stance less offensive, "I think you'll find there has been somewhat of a misunderstanding. I have no intention in fighting you unless you choose to engage me, and I assure you I have no intention of harming you in anyway. If you would be so kind as to lower your weapons, I will go on."

The woman looked Kratos over thoroughly, trying to read ever aspect of his expression and stance. Once she was satisfied, she pulled her forward leg, which was her left back, to obtain a more natural and relaxed stance, lowering her sword and dagger without relaxing her grip one bit. Though the blades were lowered, they were still posed to retaliate, held firm and angled so that they could be raised in an instant.

Kratos and the woman stood, eyes locked, gauging one another for a few moments before Kratos finally sheathed his weapon standing up strait, muscled arms crossed casually over his chest. The woman relaxed her shoulders the rest of the way allowing her blades to hang more at her sides now, her grip still tight just in case.

"We were passing by and heard the fighting, and decided it would be best to check the situation out in case someone needed help. One of the members of our group is a little quick to act", Kratos began shooting an irritated glare at the boy garbed in red who now sat half sprawled in the sand, "and rushed in before we had the chance to fully asses the situation. As I feared, you mistook him for another enemy coming up from behind, and I only jumped in so that he wouldn't pay the ultimate price for not fully assessing the situation first."

Without further explanation the woman smirked sheathing bother her dagger and sword, placing a hand on her hip as she leaned more over her right leg so that she held a more s like stance. "So your not bandits? That's good news", the blond woman half laughed, "But uh, kid. You should really be more careful. Even noble intentions can be misread in the right situation. This was one of those times, and it near bout cost you….dearly. So I hope you take something away from this experience."

Kratos gave a sigh of relief that the tension had finally been resolved and shot Lloyd another irritated look out of the corner of his eye muttering, "the sooner he learns to think before he acts the better."

Lloyd gave an exasperated sigh as he stood, shoving his swords back into their sheaths before dusting himself off. "L…Lloyd, are you ok? That was almost really bad", Genis called as he came sliding down the side of the dune, almost slamming into Lloyd.

"Lloyd", came Collette's concerned voice as she trotted down the slope to stand next to her childhood friends.

Lloyd nodded still dusting off all the sand that he had accumulated when he had fallen to the ground. Collette placed a small hand on his shoulder as she looked him over for any sign of injury. "I'm fine Collette, really", Lloyd laughed ruffling the gentle blonde's hair, "I promise. I'm not injured. Not even a scratch."

Lloyd's goofy grin disappeared instantly as Professor Sage slowly slid down the last length of the dune angrily stating, "That was very careless Lloyd. You're lucky Kratos was able to reach you in time. You do realize you could have been killed if he hadn't, right? I mean what were you thinking, rushing in like that? Think Lloyd, think! She was focused on fighting her attackers and you came flying in from behind."

Lloyd grimaced knowing that Raine's exasperation at his lack of thought would lead to many more lectures on this topic, and everything she had to say now was only the tip of the iceberg.

As the members of the group all focused on Lloyd, the woman smirked to herself as she took in this absolute display of affection and concern. The young boy, the blond girl his age, the older woman that appeared to be related to the shortest of the group all kept fussing over him in their own way as the boy in red, whom she had gathered to be named Lloyd, shot back quick comments and reassurances.

The only one that didn't seem to be on a personal level with the spirited youth was the one clad in almost all purple. The man seemed more distant and his annoyance based more on the fact that it made him act when the situation could have been avoided entirely. Looking the man up and down one more time, she determined that he was a mercenary.

The man glanced back over at the woman with a look of…curiosity mixed with suspicion. 'Yup, he's a mercenary all right. He has definitely got the "crisis averted now on to information gathering" thing going on.'

Kratos looked back at the rest of the group before deciding it was time to get some answers. Eyes narrowed slightly Kratos began by questioning, "Just who are you anyway? And what exactly are you doing all the way out here by yourself? And don't bother telling me your companions are just off over the next dune or something because I saw no signs that anyone else was even near you before those bandits attacked you, and groups don't split up in the dessert."

The woman sighed knowing now for certain that this man in purple was going to be more than thorough with his investigation, but she didn't blame him. After all, it was definitely an oddity to find a single person roaming around the desert like he was. So, before her lack of answers irritated the king of purple clothes she began with an amused sigh, "My name is Luc Kaiden, and I'm a mercenary. I'm not going to waste my breath trying to tell you I am not traveling alone, because I am. As for why I'm wandering around the middle of the desert on my own, I tell you this: I'm a mercenary who needs money and what better way to make money than to take a few jobs. Rumor has it that there are some jobs available out in Triet, so I decided it was worth a shot to come all the way out here and check things out."

Kratos eyed the amused "mercenary" wearily. Before the brunette could continue his questioning Raine began her own inquiries. "Where exactly are you coming from? Where meaning the point from which you entered the desert of course", Raine asked inquisitively rubbing her chin as she thought to herself.

"I entered the Triet Desert from the North-East you could say, you know, from Ossa Trail", Luc began nonchalantly until Kratos and Raine exchanged a quick look of uncertainty, "But…after seeing that look I think I should add that my compass broke part way into the desert, leaving my map useless and me lost by the end of the first day without it. Unfortunately, I was unable to turn back at that point because it happened during the night. The sun had risen by the time I realized I no longer knew which way was which and, no surprise here but, no trail remained to show me which way I had come from. So…could one of you possibly point me in the direction of Triet?"

Raine raised a slim eyebrow as the mercenary Luc explained her situation. A quick glance at Kratos revealed that he bought the woman's story, and if Kratos believed the woman, then Raine decided she would to. After all, the pale blonde's story seemed more than plausible. The way she had fought against the bandits, and the level of gear hat she wore, openly supported the claim that she was a mercenary. Delicate shades of pink over her shoulders and across the bridge of her nose along with the overly dusty appearance and subdued tones of her clothes supported the claim, somewhat unspoken, that she had been wandering about in the desert. But just to be safe, and incase gut feelings about the woman were off, Raine thought it best to at least ask to see said broken compass.

Without hesitation Luc swung her pack around in front of her, letting it hang off her left shoulder, and produced her compass, holding it out so Raine could get a good look at the broken piece of equipment. Raine reached out to take the compass for better observation pausing long enough to ask, "May I?"

Luc gave a quick nod as a go ahead for Raine to handle the compass, and the Elvin professor scooped up the tool turning it carefully between her fingers. 'Man, this lady is thorough. Maybe even more thorough than that guy in purple…Why the hell is he wearing that much…bah, it doesn't matter. Anyway, I just hope they will at least just tell me what direction Triet is in cause…I really am running too low on water', Luc sighed while thinking, stretching her back and arms.

After turning the compass over one more time, Raine passed it back to the mercenary with a curt nod. "It might definitely be worth your while to invest in a new one. At least, I think it would be easier to simply replace it as opposed to seeking out and finding an individual who would actually be able to fix it. That aside, just how long have you been wandering out here anyway? You certainly look like you could use some good rest and shelter", Raine commented looking Luc up and down before placing her hand on her forehead and shaking her head, continuing, "I'm sorry. I suppose a more appropriate question is do you need water?"

At the mention of such a precious liquid, Luc became conscious once again of just how dry her mouth felt and she ran her dry tongue over her cracked lips. The staff wielder through asking such a question was leading up to making a rather generous offer, and Luc, though she desired to be able to polish of her current canteen full of water without fear of running completely out of the valuable substance, felt as if she couldn't possibly accept such a generous offer. With a weak shake of the head, Luc cut the mage off by answering, "No, it's all right. I have enough water to get me a day or so. So, as long as Triet is within a day's travel I should be fine."

Genis had been listening intently from the shade provided by his taller friend in red, and he had concluded that, based on Luc's stance, complexion, and response to the mention of water, piped up stating, "You don't seem like you're fine on water. You're response to the very mention of water reveals that you are worried about the remaining quantity you have. Though, it might also be indicating that you have been stretching your water supply. The second possibility would mean that you haven't been getting all the water you need and by continuing to short change yourself, you would be able to avoid running out of water until tomorrow."

Luc blinked wearily at the shortest member of the group. That was a far more astute assumption, and conclusion, than she had ever thought a child his age would ever be able to make. But here this boy wonder was, taking that idea and smashing it on the very rocks of reality. The momentary shock over the young Elf's accuracy gave left Luc vulnerable enough that Kratos and Raine were both able to more accurately asses the mercenaries condition, not to mention allowed them to read her like an open book.

Once Raine made her findings clear, by speaking them aloud, Collette quickly chimed into the conversation insisting that the group had water enough to spare, assuring Luc it would be no problem for them to provide her with some. Luc, despite the reassurances of the white clad blonde girl, continued to decline the offer trying to convince that she really didn't need any water.

Lloyd eventually pulled out his own canteen saying he had just topped it off not all that long ago, and that it would be perfectly all right by him if Luc helped herself to some of the precious liquid.

After a few minutes of almost every member of the Chosen's group insisting Luc take some water, Kratos pulled his own canteen off his belt walked over to the slowly swaying Luc, and shoved the canteen into her near flat chest. Luc weakly shoved the canteen back towards Kratos, but the man was bale to easily redirect the canteen back into her chest. Before finishing her protest, Luc swayed, the exhaustion from the fight and the lack of an adequate amount of water in her system finally catching up to her, eventually falling forward as a wave of dizziness swept over her, skewing her vision and turning the world at odd angles and slopes.

Kratos caught the falling woman and helped her to sit, shaking his head muttering to her, "Driving yourself to this point hardly shows you to be a good mercenary you know."

Luc let out a hiss and started to give the man a piece of her mind but she was over ridden by Raine. Kneeling next to Luc and Kratos, Raine looked the woman over. "We're actually heading back to Triet ourselves, and we have more than enough water for our entire group plus you. So you can just travel back with us. However, as a healer I must ask that you start drinking more water from know on. I understand that you were technically lost in the desert and needed to make what little water you had last, but as I said we have more than enough to spare. So you don't need to worry about running out now", Raine explained, suddenly raising an eyebrow before adding, "And by the way. Failure to follow my instructions to adequately rehydrate yourself will result with me finding a more creative way to rehydrate you. I will simply not allow stubbornness or pride to be the reason, or the means, by which you neglect yourself. As a healer, I simply can not condone such things."

Raine stood with a smile and turned to start marching the group back up the dune. Before Luc could even attempt to negotiate, refuse, or accept, for that matter, the offer slash request slash demand, Kratos had helped her to her feet and up onto the back of a large green and white…dog…that Lloyd had called over, which had been, now that Luc thought about it, been whining and whimpering from behind the three non-adults of the group.

Travel by dog-back was far easier on Luc, and she was soon feeling well enough to walk, but Raine would not hear of it. The crazed healer insisted the Luc stay riding the large pooch, which Lloyd informed Luc went by the name of Noishe. Irritated at being treated as if she was in a delicate state on the verge of breaking, Luc scratched the large dog behind the ears. As annoyed as she was, however, Luc had to admit that it was nice being able to not walk in the shifting sands as well as to travel while practically lying down.

Luc had taken to leaning forward on Noishe's back, letting her head and chest rest along the shoulders and neck of Noishe. His long white and green fur was soft, and surprisingly the over sized dog actually smelt quite nice. The dog's scent reminded Luc of a forest, fresh in bloom in the spring time, and any scent like that was welcomed when the only thing one had smelt for the past few days had been dry aired desert wind, sand, and sweat.

Although she enjoyed the easy travel, and technically the lift the do was providing, Luc still felt irritated about not walking. It wasn't right for her to be riding astride a giant canine while there were others that clearly should have been the candidate to ride the beast. Luc was a mercenary and thus was conditioned and used to hard travel. Meanwhile, Collette, Lloyd, Genis, and even the crazed healer Raine, all seemed like they would be a in far more need of assistance traveling such great distances, but here Luc was anyway, being the one to ride through the desert.

With a sigh Luc vowed that she would convince the crazy healer to walk by the end of the hour or she was going to die trying to get off this dog.

Hours past, and the sun began to fall lower in the sky, though the heat failed to drop with it. Sweat trickled down each person's brow like it had been all day, except for now the sweat was sliding over an already wet surface only creating a larger shine across each individuals skin. Luc had successfully persuading Raine to allow her to walk, but it had taken downing a whole canteen of water over the course of an hour or two to prove to the healer that she was drinking plenty of water now.

By the next day, Luc had recovered almost one-hundred percent. Over the course of a quick morning meal, which the group insisted Luc share with them instead of digging into her own rations, Luc was able to wrestle there approximate location out of Raine.

According to the nutty professor (sorry, I just couldn't help myself XD) they were just to the north-east of Triet. Raine pulled out a highly detailed map pointing to their general position. Luc studied the map for a few moments and concluded that if she had continued on her original course, she would have passed just north of Triet, by a margin of only a few miles, and most likely would have ended up aimlessly wandering the desert until she died of one of many causes.

Thinking optimistically, if Luc had not been found by the group and she had been extremely lucky, she might have eventually wandered into the outskirts of the desert where one could more easily find water. Being a fairly realistic and grounded individual, though, Luc knew that the odds of her actually having made it to the outskirts without dying of thirst first was extremely slim.

With the severity of the situation Luc had just been in les than twenty-four hours ago now put into painfully clear prospective, Luc released a shaky sigh as she sat staring intently at her clenched fist. She knew that she really did owe these people her life, and she knew that if there was anyone who ever deserved her gratitude, it was these people.

Fingers involuntarily beginning to twitch from an odd feeling pushing at the back of her mind, Luc opted to discreetly survey her surroundings as well as the individual she now traveled with. She scanned carefully, searching for the source of the "you are being watched" feeling. The source, Luc promptly discovered, was a pair of deep reddish brown eyes that belonged to the dark red haired mercenary, Kratos.

As Luc had been carefully searching for the source of the feeling, she had un-expectantly made eye contact with the man. Instantly their eyes locked, each mercenary focused directly on the others eyes. The two mercenaries' maintained eye contact for only a brief moment before they both began to feel a heavy awkwardness set in, causing them both to look away simultaneously.

Flustered, Luc was unable to make full assessment of the man's originally hardened expression and deemed it best to forget the short moment all together. She suddenly became aware of a wave of heat that had been slowly creeping across her face and up the back of her neck since the moment she made the un-expected eye contact.

It an attempt to forget the sensation, Luc climbed to her feet brushing of the sand still clinging to her and strode over to her pack. Since she was avoiding looking at the other mercenary, she didn't notice the way Kratos was still gazing blankly at the exphere on the back of his right hand.

Kratos had become distant, as if he was in another world. He slowly traced the exphere with the tips of his fingers. A strange feeling had swept over him that he just couldn't shake, and for some reason he felt an odd connection to gem on the back of his hand.

It was strange; the female mercenary seemed so familiar, but he was unable to place her name or her face. Kratos quickly began sifting through hundreds of years of memories even though he knew that even if the woman was an elf, he shouldn't have to go through many of his older memories. But then again…perhaps the woman reminded him of someone. Maybe she resembled a person who he had met long ago, or maybe he had encountered someone like her.

Kratos shook his head finally finding the strength to look away from the gem and ran a hand through his hair, pulling his long bangs out of his face momentarily. He was being sentimental, subconsciously looking for a reason to look back through his hundreds of years of memories, or at least that was what Kratos forced himself to conclude. 'She's a young, skilled mercenary, much like I was many years ago. So, she reminded me of myself in someway and that brings me back to my past', Kratos reassured himself before standing to finish breaking down the small camp the group had set up for the night.

Although Kratos had made a final conclusion about the strange feeling, he still felt a strange tug on his heart and at the back of his mind. He only hoped that he could shake it. After all, a mercenary didn't need to be distracted, and especially not a mercenary who was traveling as a part of the Chosen of Mana's group while they were so close to a Desian base.

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**A/N: **And that concludes chapter 2. Chapter three is already under way and I will hopefully have that finished and posted in the next week or so (hopefully sooner ^^). Please review. Tell me what you liked, didn't like, things you think I should work on, etc. But please, just don't mindlessly flame. Constructive criticism: good. But flaming is not constructive, so therefor it doesn't help me. Anyway, thanks for reading and check in for chapter three if you liked.


	3. Ch 3: Yet Another Begins

**A/N: **Sorry for the delay. Couldn't get by beta to read the chapter and...he still kinda hasn't. I went a head and tried to read through and catch as many errors as I could on my own but I was a little under the weather when I did. So...what I guess I'm trying to say is that there might be a few more errors than normal but I hope it isn't too bad. Feel free to let me know if you catch anything too crazy (By this I mean PLEASE DO, because I want to fix any major problems.)

Anyway, *coughs* don't own Tales of Symphonia *coughs and clears throat* Excuse me I must still be getting over that virus I caught. Anyway, I give you chapter three. Please enjoy and review.

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**Ch. 3. Yet Another Begins**

A sweet wave of relief washed over Luc as Triet loomed up over the hot golden sands of the Triet Desert. Hanging over the sandstone colored walls of the town were the long lushes leaves of the oasis towns beautiful palm trees, which had to be the only vegetation in this whole cursed section of the world. As they drew nearer to town, a steady babble of voices began to rise up into the dry air bringing the comfort of knowing the town wasn't just a mirage with it.

The sound of the group's footsteps beginning to clack on the stone walkway at the entrance of town renewed the excitement and relief Luc had first felt at the very sight of the town.

Walking into Triet was like walking into an explosion of colors, sounds, and smells after being stuck out in the monotone and barren desert that surrounded the tiny haven. People were standing idly in the shade provided by the sandstone buildings and palm trees, while others called from their stands trying to entice those passing by them, and still many others wandered around casually or went about their business. The people's bright clothing and the various colors of the merchandise in the stalls, the canvases pulled out as shades, and lettering on the signs came as a shock to Luc's eyes as she had grown use to the subdued shades lingering just out side the wall.

Out of habit, Luc paused, standing close to the center of a large circle made of stone bricks that seemed to serve as a center point for the front of town, to scan the immediate area for the inn.

The sudden disappearance of the beautiful mercenary the group had just met quickly grabbed Lloyd's attention. Lloyd tuned and walked backwards looking around for the woman. Upon spotting here he raised both his hands to his face, cupping them around his mouth.

"Hey Luc, we're heading for the inn! You gunna join us? It'll be cheaper for you if you split the cost of one of the rooms with us", Lloyd called out enthusiastically, cutting into Luc's silent search.

'Guess they already know where the in is then', Luc mused to herself grateful she didn't have to worry about locating one. She gave an exaggerated nod to the over energized teen and tiredly followed after him, which proved easy enough thanks to his bright red jacket.

Cool air rushed over Luc's lightly burned face brining the relief she didn't realize she needed. Well, the relief she didn't realize she needed or had forgotten about after having to put up with the tender skin for the past few days, unable to escape the source of the discomfort.

It took a few seconds for the mercenary's sharp eyes to adjust to the dim inn lighting. The main room of the inn was wide and open, but dimly lit. The small amount of lighting was attributed to small beams of natural light filtering in through slits in the walls that couldn't have been more than a few inched wide and two or three feet tall and long thin slits just below the ceiling. Barrels sat clustered in the corners of the main room as well as under the wooden stair case that led up to the second where Luc suspected the majority of the rooms were located.

Dead ahead was a long wooden counter manned by a middle aged woman wearing a bright blue head covering and a dark blue dress coupled with a vibrant red sash tied comfortably around here waist. At the counter stood Raine and Kratos discussing rooms and negotiating a price with the kind looking inn keeper.

Not to far off from the two adults stood Genis, Lloyd, and Collette talking leisurely about one thing or another. Lloyd spoke, a huge grin spreading across his lips, causing Genis to gain a light hearted smile and Collette to smile brightly with a slight giggle.

Luc approached the counter just as the professor and stern swordsmen finished discussing accommodations with the inn keeper. "Alright your fee is set at one –hundred and twenty gald a night. Here are the keys to your rooms. The first one is just through the door to the left, first room on your right. The second is just up the stairs, third door to your right from the stair case. Enjoy your stay and let me, my husband, or one of our two maids know if you need anything", the tanned woman explained with a smile.

Raine thanked her picking up the two keys and turning to flag down the three teens of the group. Luc stepped up to the counter and before the inn keeper could even turn back around from filing away a few papers, Raine turned the mercenary with a firm hand behind the shoulder and started leading her off to the side along with the rest of the group. Like anyone would expect from a seasoned teacher, Raine headed Luc off explaining, "You might as well room with us. The two rooms we're renting have three beds each. Besides it will be cheaper for you and for us if we split the cost. On top of that, I personally want to make sure you are recovering properly from your time spent I the desert. And I won't take no as an answer."

"Thank you", Luc began, looking back over at the counter, "but… you all really don't have to do this. Splitting a three bed room with me really doesn't save you all that much money and I have the funds to rent a room of my own. Besides, you have already helped me so much just by supplying me with water like you did. On top of that, even if I don't room with you all, I'll still be at the same inn. So, you would easily be able to check up on me."

Raine shook her head, "It really isn't a problem for us. Besides, if you think about it, it is either room with us or rent your own room and possibly end up sharing with people you have never met before since, like a fair few inns, this inn rents more by the bed than by the room. At least in rooming with us you know a little something about the people you are sharing a room with. In all honesty, I would prefer you ending up as the third person in our second room then someone we don't know at all."

Luc let the professor's arguments sink in. It was true that most inns rented more by the bed instead of by the room and this inn did look like one of those inns. So, it would mean either rooming with people she knows a little bit about and had spent some time around, or take the chance she rent a bed in another room and end up sharing with people she didn't know at all.

It wasn't like the odds of her rooming with a crazed psychopath were real high or anything. Luc had stayed at inns like this many times before and had quite often ended up sharing rooms with rather interesting individuals. It was, however, still nice to know a little something about the other people first, and considering something like that didn't happen often.

On top of the nice advantage of knowing the other people came the cost benefit that Luc was trying to make out to be less significant than it was. It was technically cheaper for a group to rent full rooms than it was for each individual person to rent a bed. Yes, looking at direct cost, a full room cost more than a single bed, but if you added up the cost per bed in a room and compared it to the cost of renting the whole room, the room was cheaper. Factoring it all out, paying a portion of the cost for the room, which was like paying for a single bed, except for she would end up paying less.

All of Raine's arguments made sense which meant that Luc had no real grounds for objection. With it all thought out, Luc did the only thing any other mercenary would do in a situation such as this. She gave in, and accepted the offer.

At the mercenary's nod and words of "Alright, I accept", Raine gave her a quick pat on the back, and Collette jumped up and down with excitement exclaiming, "I'm so happy you will be joining us Luc. You seem like a really nice person so I was hoping to get the chance to get to know you better."

Get to know you better. Luc didn't mind hearing those words, but they meant she would have to talk and depending on the person that wanted to get to know her, that could mean a lot of talking. For some positively strange reason, Collette seemed to give of the aura of one of those who would equal a fair bit of talking. Just as long as the blonde didn't ask questions about every little detail, Luc decided it wouldn't be all that bad. The blonde did seem rather kind, and understanding, so Luc decided that if the "getting to know you" sessions were getting to be a pain, the girl would understand.

The rooms were decided quickly. Collette being a female would stay with Raine in the first floor room, and Lloyd would stay with Kratos in the room on the second floor. Since Raine was Genis's older sister, and seeing as Genis was most comfortable staying with his sister, Genis would stay in the same room as Raine and Collette. That left the final open bed in the second floor room with Kratos and Lloyd. So, Luc ended up staying with the purple clad mercenary and the overactive teen in red.

The room was simple, clean, and had a rather comfortable feel to it. There were three beds extending out of the left hand wall spaced equally over the distance of the all. A small wooden night stand stood on either side of each bed, one of which had a plain white candle sitting upon its surface. At the end of each bed where simple wooden chests void of elaborate details, each with a simple bronze key sticking out of their black built in metal locks.

On the right wall was yet another piece of simple furniture. It was a long light colored wooden hutch. Three clay basins with tin pitchers sat spaced out on the surface of the hutch, which were obviously washing basins that a guest may use if they wanted to clean up a little as opposed to taking a complete bath.

Luc walked to the bed farthest from the door and almost dropped her pack on to the tan blanket draped over the bed. Stopping herself she remember just how dusty and sand ridden her pack was, and let the pack fall from her hand onto the floorboards with a soft thump. Tiered, Luc took a seat at the end of her bed and began to un-wrap her gray wraps from around her hands.

With energy that Luc didn't think could possibly exist after traveling through the desert, Lloyd jumped backwards onto the first bed, the springs creaking wildly for a few seconds from the unexpected impact. "Man, it feels good knowing we'll have a good bed to sleep on tonight. I was getting tiered of sleeping on the ground ever night", the youth exclaimed with a deep sigh, throwing his hands behind his head.

Luc glanced over her shoulder to look at the boy and watched as Kratos put his pack down on top of the wooden chest at the end of the second bed, shaking his head at the youth.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A warm bath did wonders for Luc. Layers of dirt and grit washed off of her delicately tanned skin revealing her more pale and delicate complexion. The water and soap stung all the scrapes and cuts ranging all over her body, as well as causing the burns across the bridge of her nose, over her shoulders, and along the backs of his fingers.

Once finished bathing, Luc pulled on a pair of extremely baggy dark gray cloth pants, which she tied securely, and a light gray, almost white, t-shirt. Thankfully, the clothes she had packed over top of, and tucked in around, most of her clothes and belongings, had kept the sand from infesting all of her things, leaving her with clean clothes she could now pull on.

From on the counter next to where her clothes had been, Luc picked up a small jar of gel cream Raine had given her to treat the light burns she had sustained while traveling. She unscrewed the lid and dipped her fingers into the cool gel. The gel felt extremely cold on the burned skin, but it offered an almost instant relief. Not only did the gel bring relief, according to Raine, it would help speed up the healing process, and since the burns weren't all that bad, Luc figured with the accelerated healing, the burns would be healed in two or three days.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Renewed and refreshed, Luc returned to the inn room she shared with the eccentric group she had been in the desert. She returned to find Raine and Kratos sitting at the small table situated in front of the window. With nothing better to do and with it being to early to sleep, Luc sat down in one of the two remaining chairs.

Luc quickly got to talking with the healer and the mercenary, and soon details about the group began to surface. It had dawned on Luc that she had never asked what the group had been doing out in the desert where they were. It wasn't like Luc had met them in a place where any mainstream traffic from or to Triet which was, now that Luc really though about it, was odd.

It turned out that two of the members, Lloyd and Genis, had not originally been with the group. They had in fact, set out after Kratos, Raine, and Collette after some troubles back home in Iselia. Unfortunately Lloyd had managed to get on to the bad side of the Desians and the Desians had decided to keep an eye out for him.

After Lloyd and Genis had made it to Triet, they were discovered by the Desians from the near by base and taken prisoner, deciding only after reaching heir own front gates that it wasn't necessary to hold Genis. They locked Lloyd up and let Genis go. Genis somehow managed to find Raine, Kratos, and Collette and brought them back to the base, only to find out Lloyd had escaped.

The group had been on its way back to Triet from their "rescue" mission when they came across Luc. Finishing her explanation Raine sighed stating, "and that is all that led up to us finding you in such an odd part of the desert."

Luc took a few moments think over the long and…unusual story. It wasn't like the two had any reason to lie to Luc about something like this, so she concluded it was the truth.

"That's uh…quite the story you two just told me. But I get the feeling it's all true. This means, I guess, that my initial impression of your group was correct. You guys really are an unusual group", Luc concluded out loud with a laugh, "However, I feel like there is something more to you all. Something else that makes you special. I understand if you don' want to tell me what it is but I am going to tell you what I have noticed that got me to this conclusion."

Kratos leaned back in his chair as if stating silently that "this ought to be good" and Raine just simply gave her a soft glowing smile. "You are more than welcome to fill us in on your observations and speculations. I my self am rather curious as to what your thoughts are. You seem rather astute so this should be interesting in its own right. I will also tell you know that we may end up confirming or explaining more than you think we will", Raine mused.

Luc gave a firm nod and began, "First thing I must admit that strikes me as odd, is the presence of such a serious and seasoned, I'm assuming anyway, mercenary. Not every group that travels has a hired mercenary with them. I am assuming he is hired of course, and it is the way he conducts him self that tells me this. On top of the mercenary, the young girl, Collette, has a rather interesting stone fixed to her chest. Not every day you see something like that. Now, you said you all came from Iselia right?"

Raine gave a nod of conformation and Luc continued, "Well, not to long ago, as anyone knows, the Tower of Salvation appeared which means the Chosen's trip for regeneration has begun. Word has it, that she is from Iselia. My conclusion is that Collette, based on everything I have observed and been told, is that Collette is the Chosen."

Kratos smirked and Raine nodded once more. "That is correct. It's not that we are trying to keep it secret that Collette is the Chosen, it's just we thought it wise we not go about flaunting the fact. In all honesty, I kept from explaining this sooner when you were asking questions because I was curious to see just how astute you were. It turns out your observation skills are rather remarkable. I mean, you put together various information to figure out Collette was the Chosen, and without being told you figured Kratos was a hired mercenary based on his actions and behaviors alone", Raine clarified.

Luc shrugged replying casually, "Thanks, but it wasn't anything special. You eventually get good at pulling things together and making conclusions when your occupation is mercenary. I guess you kind of have to, to some degree at least, and, well…, you aren't going to make it far as a mercenary if you don't develop strong observation skills. At least, not as an all round mercenary. I guess you could make it if you were an all bronze person that worked as a bouncer or some officials muscle or something else like that."

"I wouldn't call them mercenaries then. Just muscle", Kratos added gruffly leaning forward to rest his arms on the table.

"I guess that's true", Raine nodded deep in thought, "That aside, I wanted to…ask something. You seemed rather indifferent to the appearance of the Tower of Salvation. Any particular reason why? Most people seem excited or hopeful, while a rare few have seemed pessimistic… or uncertain that the Chosen will succeed in the world regeneration."

Luc released a deep sigh. She should have expected a question like that after she so casually glanced over the appearance of the tower. She thought for a moment trying to figure out how to put her indifference into words. Not entirely sure of her indifference her self, she eventually responded dully, "Not to sure. Just don't feel all that moved by it. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great thing, the tower appearing in all, it's just…I don't see the point in getting all worked up and acting like everything is about to be resolved. Life still goes on, tower or no tower. Other than that, I'm not to sure. That's all the explanation I give really."

The professor took in the mercenary's explanation and gave an approving nod. "That's fair enough. I was just curious anyway."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Lloyd and the others eventually returned from their exploration of Triet. The whole group sat and ate together in a small dining area of the inn and the "lets get to know Luc" sessions began. Lloyd went on and on with his questions about what it was like to be a mercenary and all the places she had been. Collette focused more on asking about Luc's experiences and the many places she had seen and all the wonderful people she had met. Collette also showed an intense interest in what is was like to travel alone so often.

Luc tried her best to answer the questions as she ate, waving a hand when she didn't feel up to answering a question. While attempting to a chew a rather large mouth full, Luc wondered why none of these questions had come up before. Not that she was thinking about it, the youths could have easily asked her every single one of these questions while they were traveling, but they hadn't. Luc simply shook the thought off deciding it didn't really matter and then realized it probable had something to do with the crazed healer that was known to have temporary lapses of sanity and normal behavior.

"Lloyd! It's not like all mercenaries do is fight, fight, fight you know? And it's not like they never studied either. The only way Kratos and, as far as I can tell, Luc know what they do is because they have studied and observed. The same is true for their fighting if that's all your going to think about it. They had to study fighting styles and techniques to get to where they are now", the young mage Genis exclaimed from next to his best friend.

"I know that Genis, but they don't get stuck studying all of the boring stuff. They get to learn what they want when they feel like it. I mean, they live the true life of freedom and adventure", Lloyd exclaimed jumping up out of his seat and placing one foot on top of the chair next to him a fist raised high.

"Oh brother", Genis muttered to himself before looking at Collette and whispering, "I still don't think he gets just how much hard work goes into being a mercenary."

Obviously, however, Collette wasn't listening because she too jumped up out of her chair, throwing both hands into the air chiming in with, "A life of freedom and adventure! That really does sound like fun Lloyd."

Genis fell forward, his head slamming into the table with defeat. It was obvious there was no getting through to his two easily excitable friends who were now off on a tangent about exploring the world and living the free life.

The tangent escalated to Lloyd and Collette marching back and forth next to the table as Genis repeatedly hit his head against the table in embarrassment at his friends eccentric behavior in front of the adults, while Kratos sat eyes closed and head tilted down, Raine releasing a great sigh while shaking her head, and Luc sat frozen in place, fork halfway up to her lips from her plate, and mouth slightly open as she took in the bizarre energetic behavior.

Luc set her fork back down with a smirk, while suppressing a laugh, when Genis suddenly ceased smacking his own head against the table yelling, before letting his head fall back against the table one more time, "Do you guys get how not simple being a mercenary or an adventure is! And do you have to march around like that?!"

Something through the window caught Luc's attention. She watched the window closely but she couldn't see anything but the black shadows of the night and the outline of a well that sat not to far from the inn. What could it have been? A trick of the light? Had someone opened their blinds, letting candle light spill out into the night for a moment? Or had someone extinguished a light causing shadows to dance and flicker for a moment? Or was it just exhaustion finally kicking in and taking its toll?

As Lloyd and Collette were preparing to parade by the window once again another movement, a sharper more abrupt movement, played out more directly in Luc's line of sight. Within seconds, Luc lunged from her chair pulling out a dagger she had always made a point to carry with her, throwing Lloyd back in the direction she came from. Meanwhile, Kratos had flown from his own seat grabbing Collette and puling her way from the window. Just as both youths cleared arms reach of the window, the window shattered as a metal tipped whip sailed in through the window frame.

Luc slashed at the whip with her dagger severing the tip from it as Kratos darted forward to try and get within reach of the assailant. Unfortunately, the assailant had reacted quickly to their botched attempt to either attack Lloyd, capture Collette, or both and had fled he scene, dropping the whip as they ran.

"Damn", Kratos cursed under his breath.

It was decided that it was too dangerous to let Collette stay on the first floor of the inn elders of the group had Lloyd and Collette switch beds. Lloyd would stay on the first floor, although the Desians could be after him, with Genis and Raine, and Collette would stay on the second floor with the two mercenaries. Collette would be harder to reach and more protected on the second floor with the mercenaries, and Lloyd, unlike Collette, was able to defend him self more easily making it less dangerous for him to be on the first floor.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The sun was barely over the horizon, the town only just succumbing to the light of day when Kratos awoke the next morning. He sat up in bed, leaning back against the plain headboard with his arms folded across his bare chest as he let himself to sink deep into thought.

It was insane. He had only just met Luc a mere few days ago, and yet, he still couldn't help but trust her fully and completely. He felt as if he could place his life in her hands, and anyone who knew him at all would call that odd in deed.

Normally, he would be weary of a person he had only known this long, still observing them and analyzing their every move carefully. But here he was, Kratos the cautious, prepared to let this woman watch his back, trusting her to cover him, and protect him, if anything happened.

Kratos shook his head, tufts of reddish-brown hair waving carelessly in front of his eyes. He shouldn't trust her like this yet, but he did. And…there was absolutely no denying it.

Since this frame of mind refused to budge, Kratos went ahead and allowed his thoughts to proceed. The truth was that the woman could actually be quite an asset. She was a well rounded fighter, alert, perceptive, seemed highly educated or at least well studied, and appeared to be rather adaptive to situations which would make her good in a tight spot.

After playing the list through his head, Kratos realized there was no denying that Luc really could be an asset to the group. The fact that the next place the group would be going was the Triet Ruins, not that anyone but Kratos knew that little detail just yet, made Luc sound more and more worth while to have join them. The place would hardly be well maintained, riddled with monsters, and there was no knowing exactly what awaited them. There could be hundreds of monsters, or a small handful. For all anyone knew monsters may not be the problem but bandits who made the surrounding area a base of operations or a hideout.

On top of enemies, one also had to consider the state or repair. Walls or doorways could be ready to give out, or spots in the floor could be weak and ready to go. If one wasn't attentive, one could easily fall victim to a cave in, fall to some unknown section of the dungeon, or become severely injured just because one wasn't paying attention and paid for it with a bad step.

If monsters or bandits turned out to be an issue, another well trained and practiced fighter would be invaluable, and if opposition was not a problem, they would have at least come prepared. And being prepared, as Kratos believed, could be the deciding factor in many things, so being prepared and having something you ended up not needing was far better then reaching a point where you needed it and didn't have it.

If poor conditions where a problem, which they most certainly would be, having one more person to pick up on possible dangers would be an immense help. Luc's alertness and well developed senses, as far as Kratos had seen in terms of reaction time and picking up on small details, would certainly make proceeding through the ruins much easier and safer. Between him self, Raine, and Luc, they would probably be able to catch most anything before things became disastrous.

He would have to bring this up with Raine, leaving out the part about their destination of course considering no one knew where they were going just yet. There was the minor problem of Luc being a mercenary. This meant she hired out her skills and blade, and that meant money would more than likely be required. Money…could be a problem, but perhaps between him and Raine, they could find a way to convince Luc to join them, by promise of pay at a later point in time down the road or by other means.

That being the case, all Kratos had to worry about currently was convincing Raine Luc was trust worthy. Then again, that shouldn't be a problem, seeing as the professor seemed to trust Kratos's judgment, and he judged Luc as trust worthy.

Mind made up, Kratos pushed back the covers reaching for the black shirt he had left sitting out on his bedside table. He pulled on the shirt stiffly as he stood, stretching soon after to work out his tense muscles.

A warm pleasant breeze brushed by Kratos's bare arms. He carefully looked back over his shoulder to find that Luc was awake and sitting on the windowsill taking in the morning air. He hadn't noticed her get up, so…perhaps she had been up for a while now? Well it was also a possibility that she had gotten up while he was thinking since he had been rather deep in thought with his eyes closed as well for a short time.

Turning back to head for the door her noticed Colette still out cold, soft snores of breathy air passing through her parted lips. For some unknown reason after seeing that the happy-go-lucky Chosen was still sound asleep, Kratos turned back to take in the sight of the mercenary sitting in the windowsill, the steadily growing morning light casting a gentle glow across her form.

Luc's fair complexion looked even softer than it had the night before after Kratos had seen her for the first time cleaned up instead of coated in desert residue. Her hair seemed to glisten as the morning light reflected off if it as it danced from the balmy gentle wind. On the back of her moderately tanned left hand sparkled a ruby red exphere set in its gold shaded setting.

It was odd, for some reason the exphere just didn't seem entirely right to Kratos. It wasn't the fact that she had an exphere or anything, because it was fully plausible for a person who travels, especially a mercenary, to come across an exphere and equip it. It wasn't that the exphere looked fake, damaged, tampered with, or modified. In fact, the exphere looked completely normal.

So, it wasn't necessarily the exphere itself that didn't seem right. It was more a feeling that the exphere didn't suit the mercenary sitting before him in the window, like the exphere wasn't natural for her individually. But…the very benefits an exphere brought were benefits any mercenary could find useful no matter how exceptional they were, since they sold their skills, and Luc clearly used the gem.

Kratos forced himself to shake the thought and feeling, turning away before Luc sensed that she was being stared at and pulled herself from her thoughts to investigate like she had that first night she spent with the group out in the desert.

In attempt to change what he was thinking about, Kratos declared internally that Colette would be safe left alone with the woman and in more than capable hands. Mind frame successfully changed, for the most part, he slipped his bare feet into his shoes and strode towards the door.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The sound of footsteps over the wooden floor boards penetrated Luc's morning meditation. She looked back into the room over her shoulder to discover the source of the footsteps, and found quickly that it was only Kratos. He was dressed only in his black sleep shirt and dark navy blue sleep pants. But where was he going at this hour, and dressed like that?

Considering he was wearing his sleep clothes, he probably wasn't going outside the inn. He probably wasn't going to the bathroom since they had luckily gotten one of the rooms with its own bathroom, and going to breakfast was completely ruled out because the inn wouldn't start serving breakfast for at least another hour or two.

Luc lingered on the question for a few moments before she simply shrugged it off. The stern mercenary's business was his own and she wasn't about to waste time fretting over it. Besides, for some reason or another, the mercenary's early morning departure for some unknown destination didn't surprise Luc in the least.

Without another thought for the matter, Luc returned to her meditation, gazing out over the slowly waking desert town. The gentle wind was soothing and watching the town come to light like a painting slowly being filled in, slowly coming to completion, helped her relax and prepare for the new day.

The answer to the question Luc could care less if it ever got answered was answered that same morning over breakfast through a series of questions and proposals. "What are your plans now that you have made it to Triet, Luc? Do you have any jobs lined up", Raine questioned casually after testing her oat meal and determining that it needed tie to cool.

Luc shook her head in response, still chewing the last bite of toast she had taken. Raine waited patiently for Luc to finish chewing and swallowing. Mouth now vacant of food, Luc expanded, "You could say I have plans. I mean, I plan to take on any jobs as a mercenary that I can. If I can't get any mercenary work, I'll just take on a few odd jobs, like working for a shop or something, to support myself, and I'll move on from this town if no real jobs for me turn up. So, you could say I have plans, just not real definite ones."

She finished with a shrug, picking up her glass of juice and taking a sip. Raine and Kratos simply nodded at her explanation. Genis swallowed his mouthful of eggs and asked, "It can't be reassuring not knowing when and where work will come up? I mean, it just sound like your life has a lot of room for uncertainty."

Luc smirked at the young boy's question and observation. He was right. There wasn't a lot of certainty in her life, and she didn't know when and where work would pop up. "True", she started taking another sip of her juice, "There isn't a lot of certainty in my life, and my work, whenever I don't have a job, is always up in the air. But it has never bothered me really, and I don't really give it much thought."

Genis cocked his head to the side, unable to comprehend how anyone could live not really knowing what would come next or living without a spec of clarity to their life. Genis concluded that it would take a care free person to live that kind of life and Lloyd obviously fit that one bit of criteria for being a mercenary or adventurer. That decide he looked back at his usually energetic friend to discover Lloyd practically face down in his cereal, an out stretched hand limply placed around his glass of juice.

Of course a mercenary or adventurer needed to be disciplined and hard working because of the level of uncertainty in their lives, and those were two traits Lloyd most certainly lacked a majority of the time. Genis shook his head and went back to breakfast, giving Lloyd a firm kick in the leg and watching him shoot upright almost spilling his juice as he bellowed, "the Church of Martel, professor!"

Colette giggled, Genis gave a heavy sigh, and Raine only smirked shaking her head. Why couldn't Lloyd wake up with an answer when she was teaching a class?

With a sigh Raine returned to her original goal before Genis had chimed in with a question, which she certainly hadn't been about to interrupt. Curiosity and the pursuit of answers were important and needed to be allowed and encouraged.

"Well, as you know, we are on a journey to regenerate the world. This entails Colette, as well as the rest of us", Raine paused gesturing towards the three teens and Kratos before continuing, "to visit…altars at which she offers up her prayers to the Goddess Martel. Unfortunately, these altars can be located in…less than populated and safe locations. One such altar happens to be the first one we are trying to reach here in the Triet desert."

Raine paused to allow Luc to fully absorb what she had said. Once, Luc nodded Kratos, picking up where Raine left off, continued, "As you could guess, having experienced fighters and competent individuals in the party is highly beneficial. As far as we have seen, you are a skilled and competent fighter as well as an intelligent individual. It would be a great benefit to have you around."

"So…do you want to hire me or something?"

"Perhaps", Raine smiled, "Do you have any interest in helping us or accompanying the Chosen on her journey?"

Luc gave a shrug coupled with the tilt of the head to one side, "I'm intrigued. Care to give me any details?"

Raine nodded explaining, "As I said, the first altar id here in the desert. All we would expect of you is that you help in the defenses of the group, protect the Chosen under all circumstance, and help ensure the safety of the entire group."

"Escort and guard, sounds reasonable and easy enough. Alright, and my fee?"

"And this is where things become a little less…standard for a mercenary", Kratos smirked sitting back in his chair.

Luc tilted her head to the side listening carefully. "You see, we don't think we have the funds to pay you outright at this time. We would, however, like to reach an agreement on payment at a later date. On top of that, we would like to offer covering all expenses while you travel with us. These expenses would include lodging, food, travel fees such as boat tickets, and basic metal supplies", Raine informed the mercenary, placing her elbows on the table, hands folded so that she could rest her head on them.

Raine and Kratos watched the young woman for clues as to if she was leaning towards agreeing or not. Realizing there were a few more details the mercenary might be interested in or might want clarified, Raine added, "Yes, this contract is fairly open ended. You can choose to stay with us as long as you see fit. At least, up until the end of the journey that is, if that is what you choose to do. The soonest you can leave us and still get paid is upon return to Triet after we have finished with the first altar. Payment amount is up for negotiation."

The job hunting mercenary sat silent as she considered the offer. The job was fairly open ended, leaving room for Luc to act as she saw fit. It didn't tie her down and wasn't forcing her to make a large commitment. It was an escort and guard job, which would be made easier by the fact every member of the group was able to protect themselves to at least a minimal degree, including the one she would be primarily protecting. This made the job easier simply because Luc wouldn't be attempting to run the defense of the party singlehandedly.

On the down side, it didn't sound like she would receive a very large down payment, and, to her, it sounded like payment may not even be delivered when she chose to leave the party if she left early enough on. That made making the offer a long term investment more beneficial, but caring that a client was able to deliver on their payment was second nature for a mercenary considering mercenaries didn't work for free.

Any normal mercenary would have walked away from the offer all because payment was, for the most part, up in the air. But Luc felt she could trust the party and believed that they would see to it that she get paid no matter how long it too them to get the funds. "So far, I'm still interested in the offer. Whether my final decision to take the job or not now revolves around the settlement of payment", Luc conveyed with a nod and continued, "Now, what price are you willing to put on my services? However, I must inform you, though you probably already know this, but offer too little and then refuse to raise the price and I will walk away from this. But I get the feeling that isn't going to be a problem here.

"No, it shouldn't be a problem, unless we find that the minimum amount you demand is too excessive", Raine responded with a sigh. She was now two for two on mercenaries making the biggest issue out of payment amount. 'Mercenaries really are about the money, though I'm sure they aren't heartless. But…I guess this should be expected when your main source of income is the undertaking of jobs offered to you, normally, by people you know little about and probably will never see again', Raine concluded.

The three adults moved into a peaceful negotiation on payment amount and delivery. First, Raine and Kratos briefly discussed how much they should offer initially for the woman's services quietly between themselves, since they hadn't had the opportunity to discuss the matter fully yet because of how recent the idea to hire her had been. Next, the initial proposal was made and Luc began the process of trying to edge the price up at least a little higher to better the return on her time investment to the party.

Once the two representatives of the party and Luc had reached what they both found to be a fair price, they moved on to negotiating the down payment. Of course this matter didn't have as much room for negotiation since it was based on the amount of gald the party now currently possessed, and this meant a definite limit to the amount that could be given.

After less than an hour of the calm friendly negotiation, the three came to their final agreement. Luc would be paid 3,000 gald now and 7,000 after the party's return to Triet as soon as the party had that much to spare. Raine also agreed to, one; pay an additional fee of 5,000 gald per week after the return to Triet, and two; to leave the additional fee flexible. The flexibility of the fee, which Luc found necessary and Raine saw as reasonable, was to insure that if the difficulty of the journey increased, Luc would get paid accordingly. This also meant that Raine could move to lower the price after the difficulty decreased, or if she felt the amount of work Luc was putting forward was equal to the fee she was being paid. Lastly, Raine agreed that the fee could not be any lower than 3,500 gald a week, and Luc allowed Raine to reserve the right to terminate her contract with the party at any time.

"Alright, it's all settled then. I, Luc Kaiden, hereby agree to accompany the party of the Chosen to the altar located within the Triet Desert, and to continue to accompany the party until I chose to leave the party, my contract is terminated, or the Chosen completes her journey of world regeneration. In accompanying the party and the Chosen, I vow to protect all in the party to the best of my ability, act to ensure the general safety and better interest of the group, and to, above all, protect the Chosen", Luc formally declared taking her dagger, still in it's sheath, from her belt and holding it to her chest as a sign of swearing her blade and services to the party.

"Very well then, I expect you to keep to that vow and your end of the agreement", Raine accepted sincerely, "Formalities aside, thank you for agreeing to join us. I understand that your acceptance with payment being so uncertain is generally not something a mercenary would do, and I assume that it is something you normally would not have done. I speak for all of us when I say that we are honored you trust enough to join us under such uncertainties. Again, thank you, and welcome to our group."

Luc grinned at the welcoming. It was nice to be treated more like another living being as opposed to be treated like a meat shield. If all these pleasant aspects of the group kept stacking, it was going to be disappointing when her time with the party came to a close. This party was a rarity and she was going to revel in this refreshing change of pace for as long as she could.

Returning to her breakfast of ham, scrambled eggs, and bread, Luc solved the mystery of where the other mercenary had disappeared to earlier that morning. Based on the events of the morning, Kratos had walked down to the party's other room to discuss hiring her with Raine.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kratos smirked in amusement as he watched the teens of the party greet the newest member of the group, with the exception of Lloyd whom Kratos swore he heard snoring softly. Colette giggled happily, clasping her hands together in front of her in delight saying, "I look forward to you traveling with us Luc, honestly. I think it will be fun having you around."

Genis gave the new member a smile. "I'm glad you joined us. Maybe between you, Raine, and Kratos, you all can finally talk some sense into Lloyd", the youngest boy stated with a shrug at the second half of his remark.

The others at the table started up idle conversation as they continued with their breakfast. While Colette and Genis were going on about the desert and what the monsters they had encountered were like, Luc temporarily blocked out the conversation she had been pulled into and stole a glance at Kratos un-expectantly making eye contact with the man.

Eyes still locked, Kratos gave the woman a brief nod and smirk as welcome to the party, even though he knew she probably hadn't been looking for a welcome. The corner of her mouth turned up in a half smile and returned the nod. "Welcome", Kratos whispered more to him self after the blond broke eye contact and was pulled back into the conversation.

"Another person joins the journey for world regeneration, and yet another soul begins down the road that is not as it appears to be", Kratos whispered under his breath, letting his chin fall to touch his chest and closing his brown eyes in deep thought.

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**A/N:** And that concludes chapter three. I hope you liked it and I also hope you will click the little button below that says "Review this Story/Chapter". I will love you that much more if you hit that button. *nudge nudge wink wink*

Unfortunately chapter four is still has a ways to go before it will be ready to be posted. I must also sadly say that I don't know when I will be able to get the time to work on it, which means I can't give you a strong time span in which I will post it by. That said, I would like to apologize...and now I am proceeding with promising you that I will have it up eventually. There is only so much my professors can throw my way and their all almost out said..."things". I can feel it...I think....

Happy reading till next we meet!


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